Deep Dish Pizza

Well, tomorrow is my birthday. This has absolutely nothing to do with this entry, I’m just kind of excited. I’ve always liked birthdays. I like that I have an excuse to lay around all day and only do what I want to do. In this case, what I want to do is go out for some fun drinks and appetizers, spend some time in the pool (if it doesn’t storm), and be lazy. Sounds like good times to me.

But, for tonight, all I want to do is blog about this pizza I made a month or so ago. I finally found a pizza dough recipe that I love. We’ve tried a couple different ones, most seemed dry or under seasoned. This one is neither of those things. And it’s pretty easy to make.

The recipe is for a “thick crust” dough, but I just used my little springform cheesecake pan (I think it’s an 8 inch) and pressed the dough up the sides to make a deep dish. We topped it with red and green bell peppers and pepperoni. Delicious.

Use your springform pan for a deep dish, or use a regular pizza pan for a thick crust.

Deep Dish (or Thick Crust) Pizza Dough

Ingredients

2 pkgs dry, active yeast
4 cups flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 additional cup warm water
Italian seasoning to taste

1) In large bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water and mix well.

2) Cover and place in warm place Let rise for 30 minutes.

3) Place the remaining flour in a bowl and add Italian seasoning–as much as you’d like. I use about three tablespoons, plus some additional garlic powder.

4) Stir down batter. Add 2 cups flour, salt, and 1 cup warm water and beat well. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.

5) Turn down onto a lightly floured board and knead for 10 minutes. (I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the dough hook attachment–super easy.)

6) Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour.

7)Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll dough out and place on whatever pizza pan you’re using. Let dough rise in this position for about 30 minutes.

8) Top with whatever you want and bake 20-30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Additionally, the last time we made this I made a garlic/butter/Parmesan glaze for the crust. Just melt some butter in the microwave, add some fresh, chopped garlic, and once the glaze is brushed on, sprinkle crust with Parmesan cheese.  Yum!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: About.com

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